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Epitoniidae Berry, 1910 (1812)

Opalia crassilabrum

(G. B. Sowerby II, 1844)

Description:

Dimensions range from 6 mm - 13 mm high and 2.4 mm - 4 mm wide.
Width to height ratio: 0.4:1 ~ 0.31:1

Shell: relatively broad, elongate, acuminate; minute to small. Exterior colour grey, dirty white or yellowish white. About 8 whorls; minutely spirally striated; protoconch usually eroded; teleoconch with 6-8 whorls. Spire posteriorly concave, with rounded median angle. Suture deep, bordered by flattened crenules, about 14 per whorl, which are separated by shallow pits. Imperforate. Approximately 12 - 14 costae on the body whorl. Costae are axial, low, rounded. There is a single varix on each whorl. The varix is rarely present. Intritacalx present. Intercostal spaces intritacalax with spiral rows of microscopic, rounded pits. Base concave, without ribs. Aperture elliptical, lip thick; peristome double.


Distribution:

Central Pacific America, Philippines [Verco, 1906:146] to Fiji, New Caledonia [Garcia, 2004:8]; the Red Sea and Natal, South Africa [Kilburn, 1985:269]; Verco [1906:146] and Cotton & Godffrey [1931:8] both cite a record from St Vincent Gulf South Australia.


Habitat:

3-155m.


Etymology:

[latin] crassus = thick, heavy and labrum = lip, edge in reference to the species thickened outer lip.


SpeciesImage

Sowerby, G. B. II. (1844). Plate xxxv. Fig. 115-116.

87- SC. CRASSILABRUM. (pi. XXXV. f. 115, 116.) SoW .
Jun.

Distribution

as listed in source literature

Type Material:

The following list brings together type material and other cited specimens as reported in the sources examined, grouped under the names and designations used in each source. The same specimen may appear in multiple entries drawn from different sources. Some entries concern other species included by authors for comparison; inclusion in this list does not imply synonymy.
Opalia crassilabrum (G. B. Sowerby II, 1844)TypePhilippines. (Kilburn, 1985: 269). [Garcia, 2004a: 8].
Cirsotrema crassilabrum (G. B. Sowerby II, 1844) ·Type designation not provided in text/ source documentTicao and Cagayan Isl, Mindoro of the, also from Sansonati in Central America, Philippines. [Higo et al., 1999: G1822].
Opalia (Nodiscala) crassilip (Sowerby, 1844)Type designation not provided in text/ source documentTicao, Cagayan, Mindoro Islands, Philippines. [Nakayama, 2003: 84].
Scalaria crassilabrum Sowerby, 1844Type not locatedTicao, Cagayan, Mindoro, Philippines. [Brown & Neville, 2015: 59].


Sowerby, G. B. II. (1844).
Shown in text as Scala crassilabrum Sowerby
Species Image
Plate xxxv. Fig. 115-116.
87- SC. CRASSILABRUM. (pi. XXXV. f. 115, 116.) SoW .
Jun.
Species Image
pp: 105.
Original description
Sowerby, G. B. II. (1873).
Shown in text as Scalaria crassilabrum Sowerby, 1844
Species Image
Plate xiv. Fig. 120a.
Species Image
Plate xiv. Fig. 120b.
Species Image
Tryon, G.W. (1887).
Shown in text as Scalaria crassilabrum Sowerby
Species Image
Plate 17. Fig. 32.
Species Image
pp: 82.
Verco, J.C. (1906).
Shown in text as Scala crassilabrum Sowerby
Species Image
pp: 146.
Cotton, B.C. & Godfrey, F.K. (1931).
Shown in text as Cirsotrema crassilabrum (G. B. Sowerby II, 1844) ·
Species Image
pp: 8.
Barnard, K. H. (1963).
Shown in text as Scala crassilabrum Sowerby
Species Image
pp: 102. Plate 18. Fig. c.
Species Image
pp: 103.
Nakayama, T. (2003).
Shown in text as Opalia (Nodiscala) crassilip (Sowerby, 1844)
Species Image
pp: 105. Plate 1. Fig. 29.
Opalia (Nodiscala) crassilip (Sowerby, 1844)
height 6.0 mm; breadth 2.4 mm (WC
Garcia, E.F. (2004a).
Species Image
pp: 9. Fig. 27-28.
Ventral view of Sowerby's Type figure (Fig. No. 115).
Species Image
pp: 9. Fig. 27-28.
New Caledonia. 19°8'S, 163°23'E, 155 m [MUSORSTOM 4, sta. DW149], length 6.7 mm. 2

Synonymy:

Cirsotrema crassilabrum (G. B. Sowerby II, 1844) · [Cotton & Godfrey, 1931: 8; : 8; Higo et al., 1999: G1822]
Opalia (Nodiscala) crassilabrum (Sowerby, 1844) [Kilburn, 1985: 269]
Opalia (Nodiscala) crassilip (Sowerby, 1844) [Nakayama, 2003: 84]
Scala crassilabrum Sowerby [Verco, 1906: 146; Sowerby, 1844: 105; Barnard, 1963: 102]
Scalaria crassilabrum Sowerby [Tryon, 1887: 82]
Scalaria crassilabrum Sowerby, 1844 [DuShane, 1974: 71; Brown & Neville, 2015: 59; Reeve, 1873: pl.; Clessin, 1897: 53]


Source Literature:

Barnard, K. H. (1963). Contributions to the knowledge of South African marine Mollusca. Part III. Gastropoda: Prosobranchiata: Taenioglossa. Annals of the South African Museum.. 47(1). http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/40854388 [Accessed 26 December 2025]
Brown, L. & Neville, B.D. (2015). Catalog of the recent taxa of the families Epitoniidae and Nystiellidae (Mollusca: Gastropoda) with a bibliography of the descriptive and systematic literature. Zootaxa. 3907(1). Magnolia Press Auckland, New Zealand. http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3907.1.1 [Accessed 22 October 2023]
Clessin, S. (1897). Die Familie der Scalariidae. In W. Kobelt (Ed.), Systematisches Conchylien-Cabinet von Martini und Chemnitz. Neu herausgegeben und vervollständigt. 2(13). Bauer & Raspe, NürnbergBauer & Raspe, Nürnberg. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/34259905 [Accessed 21 June 2025]
Cotton, B.C. & Godfrey, F.K. (1931). South Australian Shells Part II. The South Australian Naturalist. 13(1). Field Naturalists Society of South Australia. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/42129287 [Accessed 8 June 2025]
DuShane, H. (1974). The Panamic-Galapagan Epitoniidae. The Veliger. 16 (Sup. 14). https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/42500298 [Accessed 25 September 2023]
Garcia, E. F. (2004a). New records of Opalia-like molluscs from the Indo-Pacific, with descriptions of fourteen new species. Novapex. 5(1). http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/42323212 [Accessed 12 September 2023]
Heros V., Lozouet, P., Maestrati, P., von Cosel, R., Brabant D., & Bouchet P (2007). Mollusca of New Caledonia. in: Payri C.E. Richer de Forges B. (Eds.) Compendium of marine species of New Caledonia, Doc. Sci. Tech.. II7 2ed. https://horizon.documentation.ird.fr/exl-doc/pleins_textes/divers15-04/010038859.pdf [Accessed 28 February 2026]
Higo, S., Callomon, P. & Goto, Y. (1999). Catalogue and Bibliography of the Marine Shell-Bearing Mollusca of Japan.. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/266375656_Catalogue_and_Bibliography_of_the_Marine_Shell-Bearing_Mollusca_of_Japan [Accessed 25 July 2025]
Kilburn, R.N. (1985). The family Epitoniidae (Mollusca: Gastropoda) in southern Africa and Mozambique. Annals of the Natal Museum. 27(1). Natal Museum
Nakayama, T. (2003). A Review of Northwest Pacific Epitoniids. Monographs of Marine Mollusca. 6. Backhuys Publishers
Reeve, L. A. (1873). Monograph of the genus Scalaria. Conchologia iconica, or illustrations of the shells of molluscous animal. 19. London. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/8217819 [Accessed 24 August 2023]
Sowerby, G. B. II. (1844). Monograph of the genus Scalaria.. Thesaurus conchyliorum, or monographs of genera of shells.. 1 (4). London, privately published.. http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/11076419 [Accessed 22 June 2023]
Tryon, G.W. (1887). Manual of conchology, structural and systematic with illustrations of the species. IX. Academy of Natural Sciences. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/11026889 [Accessed 20 September 2025]
Verco, J.C. (1906). Notes on South Australian marine Mollusca, with descriptions of new species. Part IV.. Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of South Australia. 30 Pt 4. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/16124267 [Accessed 19 June 2023]
Weil, A., Brown, L. & Neville, B. (1999). The Wentletrap Book. Evolver
WoRMS Editorial Board (2025). World Register of Marine Species. https://www.marinespecies.org at VLIZ. [Accessed 8 November 2025]

WoRMS direct page link: Open WoRMS record